SCOMET Export Declaration Explained

For goods that are on the SCOMET list, yes: DGFT prescribes standard proformas. For the "goods are not SCOMET" self-declaration on the shipping bill, I found no official format. On the SCOMET side, the main prescribed declaration is the End Use cum End User Certificate (EUC), filed with the licence application. Customs-facing wording beyond that is not in what I could open.

Prescribed formats for SCOMET items (DGFT Handbook of Procedures)

• Which form applies. Appendix 10J(i) covers SCOMET Categories 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8, and re-export from a stockist to the ultimate end user under Stock & Sale for all eligible categories other than Category 1. Its note says Category 1 (chemicals) uses Appendix 10J(ii), and Stock & Sale uses Appendix 10J(iii).
• Who fills it in. Every entity in the supply chain: foreign buyer, consignee, end user and any intermediaries. Each fills it in on its own letterhead, "duly signed in ink by authorised signatory." Anything that doesn't apply must be struck out, and any extra sheets must be on letterhead and signed by the same person.
• Part 1, entities: names and addresses of the exporter, buyer, consignee and end user, and where the items will finally be used.
• Part 2, items: description (model, class, type, serial number, or technical details for technology), quantity, weight or value, the SCOMET category and sub-category, and the purchase order or contract number and date.
• Part 3, declarations:
  • the end use, and whether the items will be incorporated into another product;
  • the items "shall not be used for any purpose other than the purpose(s) stated", and will not be modified or copied without Government of India consent;
  • no re-export or transhipment without Government of India consent;
  • post-shipment verification "shall be allowed if required";
  • no use for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, or for missiles that can deliver them;
  • a certificate that all the facts are true.
• Part 4, signatory: name, designation, address, phone and email, plus seal, date of issue and validity.
• Software and technology exports. An explanatory letter must go with the EUC, signed by the same person. It sets out the project location, the type of technology, the value addition, the form of transfer and the intended uses of the data.

The licence application itself is filed online in forms ANF 10A to 10F, as covered in my earlier answer.

The non-SCOMET self-declaration. I couldn't find any official text that sets out a standard wording for a declaration that goods are not on Appendix 3. That includes the DGFT trade notice that commercial guides cite for it. I also couldn't open the Shipping Bill (Electronic Integrated Declaration and Paperless Processing) Regulations, 2019 on the CBIC site this time. Those regulations set the exporter's shipping bill declarations, so I can't say whether they include SCOMET-specific wording. Whatever the format, the catch-all rule in HBP para 10.05 still applies to any such declaration.

Approach: The SCOMET List dataset contains no declaration formats, so I read DGFT's Appendix 10J(i) on the DGFT website and searched DGFT and CBIC for a prescribed non-SCOMET declaration.

Sources:

• DGFT Appendix 10J(i), End Use cum End User Certificate for Export of SCOMET Items
• DGFT Handbook of Procedures 2023, Chapter 10
• CBIC, Shipping Bill (Electronic Integrated Declaration and Paperless Processing) Regulations, 2019 (could not open)

A SCOMET declaration is a statement the exporter makes. A SCOMET licence (formally an "export authorisation") is permission the Government of India grants before the goods can leave. For listed items, the declaration does not replace the licence; it only reports it. The SCOMET licence number has to go on the shipping bill. A "not SCOMET" declaration just says no licence is needed, and that only holds if the catch-all rule does not apply.

	SCOMET declaration	SCOMET licence (export authorisation)
What it is	The exporter's own statement of the goods' SCOMET status at Customs, or the end-use and end-user statements made in the EUC (End Use cum End User Certificate)	Permission granted by the state. Exports of SCOMET-listed items "are permitted against an export authorisation, unless prohibited or specifically exempted" (Handbook of Procedures (HBP) para 10.02)
Who issues it	The exporter, or for the EUC, each entity in the supply chain	DGFT for most categories; the Department of Atomic Energy for Category 0 (nuclear); the Department of Defence Production for Category 6 (Munitions List) (para 10.02)
How you get it	No approval process; the exporter makes it	Online application in forms ANF 10A to 10F on the DGFT SCOMET portal, with the original EUC also sent in hard copy (para 10.04). An inter-ministerial working group in DGFT reviews it against the end user's credentials, end-use risk, the recipient country's export controls and India's obligations under the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement. Members are asked to comment within 30 days. The SCOMET Cell at DGFT then issues the authorisation (para 10.06)
Where it is used	On the shipping bill or with the export documents	Its details "must be provided to the Customs authorities at the time of export through ICEGATE", and "the SCOMET license number must be mentioned in the shipping bill" (Mumbai Customs Zone III FAQ)
What happens without it	A wrong "not SCOMET" declaration does not protect the exporter (see the catch-all rule below)	Exporting SCOMET items without a valid licence "is prohibited and may result in penalties under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992" (Mumbai Customs FAQ)

How they connect

• The EUC is the declaration inside the licence application. The licence application "shall be accompanied by an EUC". In it the end user certifies three things (para 10.04(d)):

  • stated-purpose use only;
  • no re-transfer without Government of India consent;
  • verification will be allowed.

  The working group judges the "credibility of declaration of end-use" when it decides the application (para 10.06). The declaration is evidence, and the licence is the decision.

• The catch-all rule can turn a non-SCOMET item into a licence case. This applies if DGFT has notified the exporter in writing, or the exporter "knows or has reason to believe" the item could be used in or diverted to weapons of mass destruction, missiles or military use. In that case the exporter "shall apply for a SCOMET authorisation" in ANF 10A (para 10.05). Declaring the goods non-SCOMET does not remove that duty.

• Some listed chemicals use a general authorisation instead of a licence for each shipment. Examples are entries 3D001 and 3D004 going to the countries in Table 1 of Appendix 10N. The exporter registers once for a GAEC (general authorisation for export of chemicals and related equipment), valid for five years, and reports exports quarterly, within 30 days after each quarter ^[3][1]. Exports to other countries, and the related software and technology to any country, "shall be allowed only against an export authorisation" ^[3].

• Moving SCOMET items from the domestic tariff area (DTA) to an SEZ or EOU needs no licence, only a report. The supplier must report the supply to the SEZ/EOU's Development Commissioner within one week. Physically exporting the items from the SEZ/EOU does need an authorisation (para 10.03).

As in my earlier answers, I could not find an official text setting out a standalone "not SCOMET" declaration.

Approach: I searched the DGFT SCOMET List (2025 edition) and re-read Chapter 10 of DGFT's Handbook of Procedures 2023 and the Mumbai Customs Zone III FAQ on SCOMET items.

Sources:

• DGFT Handbook of Procedures 2023, Chapter 10
• Mumbai Customs Zone III, FAQs on SCOMET Items